No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
Praise of His Glory Ministry invites to our 10 day virtual meeting of Praise and Prayers.
Date: 18th – 27th, May 2023
Time: 8.00 – 8:25 p.m. Nigeria (GMT+1)
Please join us each day to make declarations concerning our realities.
For friends in North America, it may be necessary sacrifice a bit of their break time to connect. We appreciate it.
To join, please click the Zoom Access Link and feed in the meeting login credentials provided below:
Meeting ID: 822 8142 2172
Passcode: PHGM
We can only do missions when we are well. The little bodily exercise is much when backed up with faith (godliness).
Event: Seminar
Topic: “Time for Self-Compassion is Now”
Speaker: Bunmi George, Registered Dietician & Fitness Coach
Date: Sunday, 16th April, 2023
Time: 7 p.m. (Nigeria/UK), 12 noon (MDT), 1 p.m. (CDT), 2 p.m. (EDT)
Zoom Access:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88907662913?pwd=RWIyRFpPanRmejd2d1Rnd2RzMnY5Zz09
Meeting ID: 889 0766 2913
Passcode: Wellness
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matt. 9:36)
We came into 2023 with various expectations. Irrespective of what it means to the individual, we are invited to be like our Master, Jesus Christ every moment in the year. We are invited to the place of compassion. What does this mean? Does compassion mean the same thing as mercy or empathy? I don’t think so. They are expressions that are sometimes used as its synonyms. However, as I attempt to explicate below, compassion is deeper in character.
The sound of the word in one’s hearing brings two other words to mind – comfort and passion. In as much as they do not constitute the etymological components of compassion, they no doubt combine to present a formidable perspective for grasping what compassion is all about. When Prophet Isaiah announced, “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people” (Isaiah 40:1), the recipients of that message in his day would have wondered what he was getting at. Some 740 years later, Jesus Christ read another message by the same prophet from Chapter 60:1-2 and declared with authority that the Scripture was fulfilled in the hearing of those present at that moment (Lk. 4:18).
In other words, Jesus was the fulfilment of the condition for making that promised comfort a reality for humanity. The said fulfilment was characterized by the treatment He would later receive at various times of His three and half years of ministry, which climaxed at Golgotha. Etymologically speaking, compassion is derived from two Latin words, “passio” and “com” which mean “to suffer” and “together” respectively. Combining both, we can safely deduce the meaning of compassion as “suffering together.” Suffering on the part of the one giving comfort to a sufferer is defines the said condition.
There are many around us who need comfort just as it was in the days of Jesus Christ. If we would be like our Master in 2023, we must be ready to give comfort and it may mean doing so with a measure of suffering or pain in one form or the other. For some, it may entail parting with something that is precious to us. For others it may require the sacrifice of convenience and/or rights. The pain may result from the condition of others, or what must be done because of the condition. What counts is what we do about the condition.
In conclusion, we can show mercy or be empathetic without emotion. However, we cannot be compassionate with our emotion intact. No wonder, Jesus wept because of the pain of Mary and Martha. He suffered with them and did something about it, just as He suffered with the crowd who thronged to Him “because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” and met their spiritual and physical needs.
Pst.Dr. Isaiah Okanlawon
International President, PHGM/PHGMi
www.praiseofhisglory.net
Praise of His Glory Ministry invites to our 10 day virtual meeting of Praise and Declarations.
Date: 26 May – 4 June 2022
Time: 8:00 – 8:20 pm (WAT)
Platform: Zoom (Click Link below)
Meeting ID: 822 8142 2172
Passcode: PHGM
Please join us each day to make declarations concerning our realities.
“The greatest untapped resource is the prayer of God’s people” – Henry Blackaby
God does not leave His children in the dark. We have hope of rest as the documentation of Jeremiah’s experience and expression of confidence in God reminds us in Lamentation 3:20-24:
I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore, I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly.
The concept of “rest” and “waiting” can be illustrated with the imagery of a mountain climber whose goal is to reach the summit as a mark of victory. over that mountain. Without a doubt, the task is arduous, but the challenge is surmountable. In this analogy, rest has two dimensions. The first dimension, which I term the “YES” experience is the ultimate – the result of beating all odds toward achieving the goal. with a deep breath of relief. This is when the climber can claim “possessing his or her possession.” However, this ultimate dimension does not happen without the intermediate dimension of waiting at different stages of the climb.
Prophet Isaiah emphasizes the importance of waiting on the Lord for one sole reason, which is for revitalization and renewal of strength (Isaiah 40:31). There is no gainsaying that The spiritual and emotional energies of many believers have been sapped over the past two years and need revitalization. In the context of participation in God’s mission, the foot soldiers (mission Goers) are only as revitalized as the mission Senders (Givers and Groaners). Goal setting for 2022 is useless with depleted strength and calls for courage. As the saying goes, you can only give from what you have. Senders need to be strengthened for missionaries to experience intermediate and ultimate rest in 2022. As God gives us rest during the year and beyond, His expectation for each of us is that we reach out and be of dependable help to others, including missionary member care, so that they also can experience rest – “You are to help them” (Josh. 1:14). Detlef Blöcher’s warning that missionaries “are worn out by personal concerns, frustrations and disappointment that deplete their energy and joy and reduce their effectiveness”[1] underscores the need for continuing member care.
Consequently, Jesus invites us to “come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” (Mk. 6:31) In a nutshell, we are called to repentance (change our wrong thinking about God and His view about us and our situations) to experience His rest (Isaiah 30:15a). The promised ultimate rest (victory over our ‘mountains’) will be experiential as we trust Him daily and He quietens the noises that tend to overwhelm His hope-assuring still small voice – the antidote against soul drift.
[1] Detlef Blöcher, “ReMAP I,” in Worth Keeping: Global Perspectives on Best Practice in Missionary Retention
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.